Bedroom...Done, Kitchen Organised, Lounge Room Coming...Yeahy!

9 or so days ago I was inspired by some pics of 6 cottages up near Budapest that I saw.

It was the perfect solution for renovating the place here in a way that would respect the past and colour the future use of the property.

Am a very happy camper now...well, that's not exactly true now as I'm not camping here any more!

I'm in creating a home mode now...

The Little Lodge of Many Wonders...for people to come and stay for a week or more at a time to enjoy a taste of the past in a tiny Hungarian village.

There are tours to the great plains of the famous Tisza area, relaxing hours at the local hot spa baths, plus visits and cruises, canoeing and swimming in and on the lakes.

There are heaps of walking trails to check out the amazing bird life that abounds in the area and soak up the pure delights of the coming seasons here in this delightful part of Europe.

So, that being said, it's on with the seemingly never ending work ahead.

A few pics to bring you up to date...when they load...that is...

Well, it's got snow!
Oh, well, I'll write all this in Word.and hope the internet is back on when I finish.

Painted and set up one bedroom to get sizes last weekend and I've slept in there on and off over the past 7 nights  Seems ok...
The room will be re-arranged when the window goes in, but all the furniture fits.

Done enough to see all things fit OK. before window goes in soon.

Check out the end of these beds...the same as mine...on the right track, I'm sure now. My top bed end is not as fancy as these are, but I have 2 similar to these ones, so am happy.

Painted the kitchen, built a kitchen bench top and small return this Saturday gone.
Then I had fun all Saturday afternoon and evening, setting up the kitchen for the next few months as a temporary measure.

Zoltan fixing the pesky smoke stain that wont paint out...

I have to test to see if how the windows open over here ---are how I want it to be--- in the kitchen.

It's one thing to say put in a window, as in your mind, you know the types of windows you are used to.

Over here...OMGoodnes! A different kettle of fish altogether!

You need extra space in the room for the blessed things to open, as they open inwards, encroaching into the room space...no double hungs or sliders here!

Now to the painting of the kitchen...any remaining  holes have been patched. So, it looks like I'll take an ordinary double window, like in the bedroom, turn it sideways, so it opens like a hopper, where the top one opens up, while the bottom one opens down. Meaning I don't have to keep taking plants etc off the big window ledges every time I want to open the windows.

Looking from the kitchen sink to the pantry under the attic stairs and door to the bedroom.

Doorway into the lounge area is over there, left of the fridge...

Plus, I'll be able to reach both locks from the same height.

Wait until I try and get Zoltan to do this...I can hear the entire village saying...nem, nem, we don't do it like that!"
Hahaha...Well, this time people, we are!

Starting the frame up for the kitchen benches. This stool in the front of the pic is the same as one in Catherine's Cottages!

Was chuffed when I saw that. It was a sign, along with the beds, that this was the way to go!

The bench we made will become a workbench in the workshop when the real kitchen goes in after the window is cut in, over the coming months.

It was a rush job with available materials from the old bath/bedroom floors, so it's not meant to be perfect, just needs to get the job done for a while.

One kitchen bench and mega storage, coming up! Plumbing pipes poking up and all.

Have found that there may be room for a type of return and 2 breakfast stools on the wall where the gas pipes were on the big chimney...not sure about that yet, as it seems as though it will fit, but I don't think it will suit the era.

If not, a spice rack definitely will fit. Will get a glass door complete with architraves and stick it on the wall and put in some nice timber shelves...Voila...an instant spice cupboard!

A neat spice rack can be placed near the stove.

I built one "like this", but full length, to the floor and without a door, into the wall in a house I built in Valentine in Newcastle back in the 80's. It was so handy, right next to the stove too.

Here will be the same if I go ahead. A couple of old widows would do too, but the new door with architraves etc, sounds good to me.

From this temporary set up I did for a change of walls, 2 weeks ago...to the one below...for a few months...I can't wait for the furniture to be restored as there is nowhere to put the stuff now that I've emptied out all the cupboards and dressers. I don't know which ones he'll take first and I'm not going to hold him up, so all are empty and waiting.  That means stuff in boxes and on benches everywhere at the moment. 

Have no idea where to put dog now. She can't stay in the kitchen and I don't like animals in the house, so am in a pickle until the weather gets warmer. It was 8C today and expecting a very warm 12C on Friday next, so soon she can go outside. Under the apricot sheet on the bench is stored so much stuff, you could not believe! Very happy to de-clutter now and get a bit of order, be it stage 1 of many, but it's on it's way at long last.

Now, I can see just how big this jolly room is at last! It's been a store room since I came and it's been fun  today, sorting thru all my bags of this n' that I'd brought from Australia over the 5 years I've been backpacking around.

This all gets moved again next Saturday for the room to be painted. This room is in pretty good condition, so there aren't many holes to patch. Will have bright covers made for the lounges for different rooms later on.  Look at the dust particles still floating in the air. Thus camera picks up everything.

Bonus...Found I had a big dining table! The bench I was going to use for a wash stand folded out and became a very nice sized dining table...so now I need an idea to replace the wash stand idea...Check out the nice legs on it.

After next weekend, I'll be able to put out my candle sticks...The one Jelena gave me...for safe keeping and my crystal ones I brought over in my suitcase!

My table like this turned out to be a nice family sized dining table!

Apart from the big lamp, these nic-nacs are from Jelena in Serbia, from her Grand Dad who collected these wooden ornaments on his world journeys. I just discovered the 2 little lamps are working replicas of the big paraffin lamp, that works.

Had a go at painting the wall behind a chair over there and tried some vintage type paint on the chair front. It actually creates a mood I never thought possible with such tacky looking work! Now much thinking before the furniture restoration man comes on Tuesday. Thankfully he is only taking a piece or 2 at a time, then bringing them back before taking more. So I should have something sorted out by then.

At last the girley stuff is started! But blue walls are out...white it is, all the way through, with lots of accents of bright colours.

I'll finish off now while I have internet.
Cheers
See you next week with the final paint thru of the 3 main rooms, then it's into the end room for major ceiling work and following that, its paint job.

Then Electro Pete comes in late Feb to cut holes everywhere in the walls and ceilings.
You probably are asking why didn't I get this done earlier.
Simple...
I didn't know if room sizes would work, walls would fit etc, as nothing is straight or uniform in size.
Plus any new dividing walls to go up...they want to make a foot thick!

No way...I'd end up with match box rooms, so am having gyprock walls as in Australia, put in to separate the bathroom and 2 bedrooms.

Have had so many applications from people who want to volunteer here and have decided to take 2 experienced people, one from USA and one from Slovakia. I wasn't going to take any more volunteers, but these people are older and tradesmen, so they know what's going on.

I couldn't go skiing in Slovakia, due to my Schengen visa still being needed for outside of Hungary...so Slovakia is coming to me!

I have 4 wine barrels that need major work done and both can help Zoltan with pulling the roof off all the sheds, cement paths around house, finishing off the fence, hinges on gate, putting back drain pipes etc etc, before all the major stuff starts...like rebuilding the sheds we are about to demolish in part.
One comes at end March for 2 weeks and the other  after that, so it's all coming together nicely.

Bye now...
xxx

Minus -8 C and Going Strong...

Wow, it's very lovely, watching the snow fall, then having amazingly beautiful sunny below zero days and to top it all off...watching the the moon rise over the glistening snow in the evening.

That is perfection in any language for sure!
The blog/internet is playing up and I can't get to the bottom to say g'bye, so I'll do it here.

Will take pics of the bedroom and lounge tomorrow, when the whitewash has dried white.
They are separate rooms, or at least now I'm actually going to sleep in the bedroom for the first time since I've been here. Amazing, the place seems bigger too.

Looks like my camping days are coming to an end.

It's been great fun, but now I want to get the place all girlied up and pretty, now I have those lovely pictures to go by. Can't wait.

The lady with the Vintage shop is coming out at 3 pm on Monday with a translator and her hubby, so I'll get Zoltan here too and get every one on the one page at last.

Bye...

Dog loves the snow...

Woke on Thursday morning to another nice little blanket of snow.

Have snow on my own Xmas Trees!

Seeing as I have no DVD player...I've resorted to having to sit at the computer to drool over Ben Lewis in Love Never Dies...

Try and get your dog to pose for the camera...hahaha.

Down the end of the paddock in the shade of the big house...sun is sooo low in the sky in Winter...but you can see how the sun melted the fresh now.

But no sun here, so we still have snow!

I love this view out my kitchen door, thru the glass...Just after 2.30 pm after a lovely sunny day again.

This morning, Saturday, at 8am, I heard noises outside my window...they were pulling down my Xmas lights,, my very own!

Can't tell if it's a heavy frost to-day or very light sprinkle of snow again!

So I had Zoltan come across for a few hours to help me paint this room and re-arrange the house.

We got stuck into it and were finished in an hour and a bit...Just a clean up coat to make everything in this room clean, and sort of uniform. In April or May it will be done with a couple of final coats after all the doors and windows are painted and repaired and the 2 new windows go in. The bedroom one goes in the wall right where Zoltan is and one in the kitchen too.

This is a wash day Wednesday effort, before it snowed again! I pegged this tablecloth on the line under the verandah and it was as stiff as a poker in 30 mins. I guess minus 8 C had something to do with that!

A bit chilly to-day, saturday. Only minus 7C when this was taken.   The moon, pic below,  was out and a few clouds rolled by just after 7pm tonight.. .A perfect ending to a busy day.

A New Year Dawns...

A new year in a new country with my resident visa being approved and delivered is one nice way to start the year in 2016!

Haven't seen too many new year resolutions posted this year...I wonder why?

Is it because people are discouraged that they can't do it?
Afraid they'll bomb out again and miss the mark?
Too scared to have another go?

Well, one thing I do know is this...The answer is always NO, until you get out into the harbour and hoist that sail.

So what if the wind blows you into a wrong shoreline?
You took action, learned a whole heap, can now better determine the path ahead and set a better course the next time.

Keep it movin' along baby...you'll avoid a lot of depression, have a ball meeting amazing people, end up in breathtaking places, grow wiser as you go...and who knows?

Maybe, one day you might just suddenly find yourself right where you really want to be, without seemingly trying.

To recap my year in this diary of 2015...

It was over in a flash it seemed.
Where did the time go?

From NYear 2014-15 in Split and Zagreb in Croatia for Jan and Feb, to Prague in March, to Hungary, to Romania end of March, to Hungary April, to Belgrade in Serbia all of May, to Hungary for 3 weeks, back to Serbia again with a friend who came to visit for a month in June, back to Hungary for a month in July, then off to Australia for a couple of months, August and September, back here to Hungary for Oct, Nov and Dec!

With a few days in Budapest and Belgrade for Xmas and then back to Hungary on 21st Dec. where my resident visa arrived in time for Xmas, just as my 3 months Schengen time had only a few days left before I would have had to move on to some non-Schengen zone for another 3 months.

Xmas in Budapest...

Whewww...That's where it went!
If you want to know anything about the insides of trains between here and Budapest, Debrecen and Belgrade, just ask me!

It went so fast, I still think I'm in 2014...

What I wanted to achieve in 2015 mainly was to sure up the place to prevent further erosion of the 100 year old mud brick construction of the place here, which was a seemingly never ending job of guys just filling holes, underpinning and rendering everything in sight!

The biggest thing of course was to apply for and be approved for my staying visa, allowing me to stay put for a year, settle in and unpack my cases from almost 5 years with my backpack glued to my shoulders!

Boy, what a ride that past 5 years has been!

So this year I'm planning on getting done what I thought at first would easily be done in a flash...hahaha...yeah, OK.

Jan...Finalise colours and style for the Lodge...So, this means out with all my previous ideas, out with the doona covers etc I bought in Australia in September.

Will dye a pillow case salmon and see how that goes...otherwise it's into storage for further use later!

I'll have a go at dyeing a pillow case first and see if I can make do with a bright salmon paisley print for a while!

Done...and to top it off the day after I found this style, I "stumbled" into a shop in Tiszafured that has all this stuff in stock...plus the lady's hubbie is going to fix and paint all the windows, doors, knobs, latches etc in April when paint will dry! So how about that to kick off the new year in style!

Apart from the fact I have most of the furniture shown in these pics, it is a no brainer for sure.
Have always liked these styles but never knew how to use it in Australia, so one tends to put it out of mind.
While it's really not my style, I'm happy to do the Lodge in this style as that is what it needs to bring it back to life again for another 100 happy and good years using every scrap of furniture left by the previous owners.

I'm sure the original owners who built the place in 1919 are more than happy to look down from above and see their much loved family cottage come to life in a purposeful, vibrant and colourful way.

Feb...Get some of the furniture rubbed back and painted like so...I'll have a go myself at night and see how patient or not...I am!
.

They probably look horrific and over the top to you at first glance...but in the right places, they are extraordinary!

March...Get the front of the house repaired by a neighbour who does this delicate repair work. It has patterns and designs on the cement and they are all wearing away with the weather.

He'll also straighten up the front cement pillars, where they were hastily repaired to stop erosion and repair the eaves, replace a piece of guttering and paint all of that...and hopefully fix a brick that fell/blew off the chimney the other night!

Also, Zoltan to finish the last piece of pipe to the loo and finally plumb it up! I'll miss "skipping to mah loo, mah darlin" in the snow, but it's time.
Near the end of March Zoltan will remove the roof tiles from the little end shed, rebuild that quickly, as it's small, remove the roof tiles from the little 3 door shed, then demolish most of the shed and  barrow the rubble to a big pile in the yard...sigh, will it ever be tidy?

Barrels filled with ice! Will cut these 3 barrels down, paint them bright colours, turn them bottoms up and add cushions...presto... great patio stools

Also want to repair my 4 poor old wine barrels...2 in pieces, one about to collapse and the other not far behind. The big one (now in pieces) I originally wanted to make into a spa, has woodworm in it and has lost about 6 inches of depth, so I'll repair it, treat it and pin it inside, trim it level, paint it, turn it upside down and make a huge coffee table out of it for the new deck.

Plus the plastic barrels those massive ice blocks were formed in, I'll get them cut down and after painting and padding them, they will end up as some nice stools for the deck too.

The gardens will be pushing up weeds and super growth in March, so that will be a big job too.

Barrel ice cubes!

April... 
Zoltan will rebuild the 3 door shed, roof and all, with higher ceilings and put in a floor, doors and power will be installed.
Under the back fence to be cemented and special wire retainer hooks applied to stop the dogs and chooks breaking thru',
The water draining paths around back of house and garden side to be done, windows cut into the bedroom and kitchen with new windows added.
Wiring and power points completed all thru the place...some were only temporary until all the hole cutting for windows and doorways was completed
Insides all finished off with last coats of white paint!
All doors and windows in the place fixed, painted white and re-glassed where necessary.

A frost again Saturday morning after a few weeks of some snow, lots of rain and some sunny days. 

A bright start to a mid winters day yesterday. Minus 2C...pretty nice actually.

Couldn't get the heart shaped ice drop in focus...drat it...Was lovely anyways.

Thank you jar nearly full. Hey Tom Warne...how is yours going?

This morning...no water, only ice pipes, no frost as the ground is frozen solid  and it is supposed to snow tonight.again, Bricks all go icy and slippery.

May, June, July...
Depends on workers as this is their really busy time, so I'm hoping to nab them on their off days.
Summer kitchen roof tiles removed and walls partly demolished, then rebuilt with higher ceilings and a mez floor where attic was. Windows and an e/s installed and plumbed.
Final plumbing, carpentry, internal dividing walls, linen cupboards built, chimney doors removed and chimneys lined and sealed off ready to be re-purposed as cabinet space for oven, microwave and cooktop.
Pantry sanded, lined and painted where necessary
Kitchen finally installed, plumbed, oven and cook-top hopefully installed...

Everything inside completed and ready to have the floors laid in July/August at latest.

All 3 external sheds, including Summer kitchen all rebuilt, repaired and painted, ready for internal work over the next few temperate months, prior to winter setting in.

OK...so that's the infrastructure planning done, next comes the soft furnishings...

That's a story for another time in June for another 6 month plan!
So you see I am so far behind on this project mainly due to indecision about how to style it.

Now I'm sorted as far as colours and styling goes,  it will rocket along, workers will turn up as needed and it will magically seem to build itself!
Watch and see for yourself.
That's it for now...
Cheers.
M
xxx

After the Snow...Comes the Rain!

Trying to find out how to put in a pic I want at the top, after I've started...and it won't let me change the original links it created when I first published it a while ago.

So it looks like maybe no pics on this post to-day in FBk!

Nothing much to report this week...or so I thought for most of it!

Found my inspiration...

Snow has gone...hoping for more, the sun has shone, it's been below zero to minus 11C and up to 8C in the day...at the moment it is supposed to be snowing but is 2C
... Fri

2°

-5°

Sat

1°

-6°

Sun

-3°

-6°

Mon

-2°

-8°

Tue

-3°

-9°

Wed

-3°

-7°

Thu

-3°

-7°

Fri

-3°

-7°

And after the rain comes the sun...

Starting to melt...

The next day...

Of course it rained and melted most of the snow...

Then next day...all gone!

Time to pull down the tree and put away the Xmas decs...Found these cute little tree decs in Belgrade...

Cute as...

This little one had lights in it...all of less than 2 inches big!

It must still be pretty cool out there. These  huge blocks of ice are from inside the barrels of water, turned to ice. A week after the snow melted, the rains came, the sun shone for days, the temp went to 8C for a day or so...they are still pretty hefty ice blocks.

Yesterday I found a great website...http://catherinesvineyardcottages.com/ and gained the inspiration to continue the renos in this style.

Some great ideas...

Nothing really gelled with me that I tried and I just could not gain inspiration to continue in any form at all. the dark timbers , nice and all as they are, fully restored, still did not seem the right fit for here, so I was languishing around in the gloom of winter, trying and testing things, but nothing worked.

This has all the colours I like and combines things I have here in the place, so it's full steam ahead now.

Here are the colours of nature...all brightened up in the lovely picture you just saw above.

Plus, I found a shop in Tiszafured which has all these exact types of interior decorations and the couple came out and had a look here. The man, Tibi, fixed my new gas heater...it wouldn't work, or at least, I couldn't get it to work. 

Then he fixed a lamp that went kaput too. I'd tossed it out into the bin and went and fished it out as I thought he might have magic fingers and indeed he did!

Shame I tossed my DVD player, my electric jug and hot plate out over the past few weeks too.. 

They all just  stopped working...Sighhh, but I waited for months with the hot plate and jug and a couple of weeks with the DVD player, so I'm trusting the Universe had no hope of them being fixed... in its sights!


Zoltan came over this morning and we shifted some furniture around, moved cement etc and am now getting ready to finally get things rockin' and rollin' here to pretty it all up.

Was already going to use a table I have here for this idea, so am chuffed to see how!

Have these beds...

Have a box/table just like this...but not painted like this one yet! The white table in the left corner I have and am using that for the vanity in the bathroom.

Very simple to replicate...

And to top it all off with a sign from above that this IS the way to go...as I have all the furniture...the green stool...I have an exact one, just like this, same size and all. amazing. So, the house is done folks. The Little Lodge of many wonders, lives again! But...check out the wine vat as a shower base...I even have 4 various sized vats....hmmmnnn, for the rebuild of the collapsed shed bathrooms???

And to add an extra dash of must do this...to the project, check out these! I have one, sort of like this, but 100 yrs old and obviously unable to be used as a basin, but Gabriella, at the shop I found, has these back in stock to-day!

So, you can see, the place is really styled for me...a supplier, with style is available to help and her hubby is going to do the windows and doors for me. Fix them all, paint throughout, replace knobs etc etc. so, how blessed am I?

Amazing is it not?

Back into the Hardware yards for wood today...

It's just a bit down the road from town, but a quick few mins walk...

Every time I cross the bridge I think of my sister Judy, because she had her profile picture at one time as a blade of these types of reeds!

Lunch today for me was a huge bowl of awesome home made broccoli soup...and a coffee...all up 660ft...about $3.30 Ausd.

This was where poor little dog was living when we took her in the night before Xmas...Those sticks were her little nest.

Bye for now
xxx